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Subject: Skunk Works Digest V5 #410
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Skunk Works Digest Wednesday, 6 September 1995 Volume 05 : Number 410
In this issue:
F-22
Re: F-22
Re: Broken Arrow
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From: dougt@u011.oh.vp.com (Doug Tiffany)
Date: Tue, 5 Sep 95 16:04:02 EDT
Subject: F-22
I found this at http://www.popularmechanics.com today.
Tech Update Of The Day: September 5, 1995
Fighter's Many Faces
MARIETTA, GA -- Gone the way of the 600-ship Navy and other Cold War
concepts is the dedicated single-mission aircraft. Instead, the Pentagon wants
maximum bang for its buck.
Air-superiority F-22 may become strike fighter, launching JDAM bombs.
Take the F-22. Conceived as an air-to-air fighter when there was still a USSR, the
Lockheed Martin/Boeing stealth machine could end up serving double duty as a
ground attacker or even a spy plane. Another role under consideration is suppression
of enemy air defenses, either with the HARM radar-killing missile or via nonlethal
jamming. The Air Force now has Lockheed Martin working on a 2-year F-22
derivatives study. Already, engineers have modified the basic airframe to launch
two 1000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), which are gravity bombs
with movable fins and GPS units for guidance. During a conflict -- once U.S.
forces rule the skies and have destroyed air defenses -- the F-22 could abandon
stealth to carry more smart weapons on hardpoints below each wing.
- --
A hundred years from now, it will not matter
what kind of house I live in, how much is in
my bank account, or what kind of car I drive,
but the world may be a different place because
I was important in the life of a child.
Douglas J. Tiffany dougt@u011.oh.vp.com
Varco-Pruden Buildings Van Wert, Ohio
------------------------------
From: BaDge
Date: Tue, 5 Sep 1995 17:38:42 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: F-22
Doug,
I think this is a smokescreen. Specialty craft have always been of some
importance, although it's true that they are narrowing their needs. Just
doesn't sound right. Stay tuned. ;-)
See ya!
regards,
BaDge
------------------------------
From: Kathryn & Andreas Gehrs-Pahl
Date: Tue, 5 Sep 1995 23:27:42 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: Broken Arrow
The definitions for the code words 'DULL SWORD', 'FADED GIANT', 'BENT SPEAR',
and 'BROKEN ARROW', as printed in "The Greenpeace Book of the Nuclear Age",
by John May (published by Pantheon books in 1989, ISBN 0-679-72963-1), may
not be entirely correct.
Here are some examples from Chuck Hansens book:
* A B-52H carrying nuclear-armed AGM-69 SRAM missiles caught fire... the
wind and base firefighers kept the flames away from the... wing hardpoints
carrying the SRAMs... the fire burned for more than three hours... had the
wind been blowing across... the fuselage, the whole aircraft (including
its load of SRAMs) would have been engulfed in flames. (Not a 'Broken
Arrow' incident.)
* Accidental firing of a separation rocket on the Titan I missile RV in
silo... no fire or injury... neither the missile nor its war-reserve
warhead were seriously damaged... (Not a 'Broken Arrow' accident.)
* A crewman removed the explosive bolt from a Pershing 1A missile... the
loosened bolt allowed separator springs to eject the warhead section...
the warhead... fell... slid off the platform... then fell... to the
ground... damage to warhead section... did not burn or detonate...
warhead was disarmed and replaced... no radioactive contamination... the
accident was originally reported as a 'Broken Arrow' incident and was
later downgraded to a 'Bent Spear' incident.
* An Army CH-47 helicopter carrying nuclear warheads on a logstical movement
crashed... engine fire... extinguished by internal extinguisher... aircraft
dropped rapidly... hit a row of trees... came to rest in a planted field...
the weapons were removed from the helicopter and removed to a storage
site... no personnel injuries. ('Dull Sword' incident).
And some examples from the Greenpeace book (1950 - 1959):
* 2/13/1950, a B-36 crashed at Vancouver Island... the nuclear weapon was
dumped into the ocean... the conventional explosives detonated... no
nuclear warhead installed. (Not a 'Broken Arrow' incident).
* 4/11/1950, a B-29 crashed into a mountain near Manzano, NM... the aircraft
and its nuclear weapon burnt out... the nuclear warhead was on board but
not installed. (Not a 'Broken Arrow' incident).
* 7/13/1950, a B-50 crashed near Lebanon, TX... the conventional explosives
detonated on impact... no nuclear material on board. (Not a 'Broken Arrow'
incident).
* 8/5/1950, a B-29 crashed at Fairfield-Suisun (now Travis) AFB, CA... the
(nuclear ?) weapons and the aircraft burnt out. No radioactivity reported.
(Not a 'Broken Arrow' incident).
* 10/10/1950, a bomber released a nuclear weapon during an emergency...
outside of the ConUS... the conventional explosives detonated on impact...
no nuclear warhead installed. (Not a 'Broken Arrow' incident).
* 3/10/1956, a B-47 with two nuclear warhead capsules from MacDill AFB, FL...
disappeared on its way to the Mediterranean Sea... never found. (Not a
'Broken Arrow' incident).
* 7/27/1956, a B-47 crashed at RAF Lakenheath into an ammunition bunker
containing 3 Mk.6 nuclear bombs... the conventional explosive of the
weapons did not explode, and no plutonium was released. ('Broken Arrow'
incident).
* 5/22/1957, a B-36 lost a Mk.17 hydrogen bomb near Kirtland AFB... the
conventional explosives detonated on impact (killing a cow)... some
radioactivity released. ('Broken Arrow' incident).
* 7/28/1957, a C-124 released two nuclear weapons during an emergency... over
the Atlantic Ocean... the weapons did not detonate on impact... no nuclear
warhead installed... weapons not found... the C-124 transported 3 nuclear
weapons and one nuclear warhead capsule. (Not a 'Broken Arrow' incident).
* 10/11/1956, a B-47 crashed at Homestead AFB... the aircraft and the nuclear
weapon burnt out... the conventional explosive of the weapons exploded...
the capsule with the nuclear material was undamaged. (Not a 'Broken Arrow'
incident).
* 1/31/1958, a B-47 crashed outside of the ConUS (maybe at Sidi Slimane,
French-Morocco)... the aircraft and the nuclear weapon burnt out... the
conventional explosive of the weapon did not explode, but the radioactive
contamination was extreme. (Not a 'Broken Arrow' incident).
* 2/5/1958, a B-47 from Hunter AFB, GA, released a nuclear weapon after a
mid-air collision with an F-86... the weapon fell into the sea several
miles from the mouth of the Savannah river... the weapon was never found.
(Not a 'Broken Arrow' incident).
* 3/11/1958, a B-47 lost a nuclear weapon over Mars Bluff, SC... the
conventional explosives detonated on impact destroying a house and
damaging a lot of other things... the released plutonium contaminated a
vast area. ('Broken Arrow' incident).
* 11/4/1958, a B-47 crashed near Dyess AFB, TX... the conventional explosives
of the nuclear weapon detonated on impact... near the crash site, nuclear
material was recovered. (Not a 'Broken Arrow' incident).
* 11/26/1958, a B-47 and a nuclear weapon burnt out at Chennault AFB, LA...
the weapon did not explode, but the aircraft was radioactive contaminated.
(Not a 'Broken Arrow' incident).
* 1/18/1959, an F-100 with a nuclear-armed missile/rocket (probably AIR-2)
burnt out at an AFB in the Pacific... the nuclear warhead was not installed.
(Not a 'Broken Arrow' incident).
* 7/6/1959, a C-124 crashed at Barksdale AFB, LA... the nuclear weapon on
board burnt out... the weapon did not explode, but the crash site (below
the weapon) was radioactive contaminated. (Not a 'Broken Arrow' incident).
* 10/15/1959, a B-52 crashed after a mid-air collision with a KC-135 over
Hardinsberg, KY... the two nuclear weapon were recovered, one partly
burnt. (Not a 'Broken Arrow' incident).
[and many more...]
There doesn't seem to be a discernable relation between the severity or the
type of an incident and its classification as 'Broken Arrow' or any of the
other categories.
And here is some general data, showing the scale of nuclear weapon related
incidents/accidents:
* A recent Greenpeace publication (Neptune Papers No.3) lists 383 nuclear
weapons accidents for the U.S. Navy between 1965 and 1977.
* It also concluded that 60 nuclear weapons and 6 nuclear submarines with 10
nuclear reactors were lost or dumped into the sea, worldwide (until 1989).
* A GAO (General Accounting Office) study states that the Navy reported 233
incidents involving nuclear weapons between 1965 and 1983.
* According to new information from Chuck Hansen, there have been a huge
number of nuclear weapons accidents:
- between 1950 and 1968 alone, a total of 1,250 nuclear weapons were
involved in accidents or incidents of varying severity;
- including 272 that involved impacts causing at least several detonations
of high explosives;
- of these 272 weapons, 107 bombs or rockets were unintentionally dropped
durig storage, assembly, or loading;
- 48 warheads mated to missiles or re-entry vehicles were involved in
handling drops, and launch pad or silo accidents;
- 41 bombs or warheads were aboard aircraft that crashed;
- 26 warheads in containers were in storage, assembly, or loading accidents;
- 24 weapons were jettisoned or inadvertantly released from aircraft or
ships;
- 22 weapons or warhead assemblies were involved in ground transportation
crashes;
- 4 weapons were accidentally crushed or punctured;
The information from Chuck Hansen was relayed by Peter Merlin .
- -- Andreas
- --- ---
Andreas & Kathryn Gehrs-Pahl E-Mail: schnars@ais.org
313 West Court St. #305 or: gpahl@raptor.csc.flint.umich.edu
Flint, MI 48502-1239
Tel: (810) 238-8469 WWW URL: http://www.umcc.umich.edu/~schnars/
- --- ---
------------------------------
End of Skunk Works Digest V5 #410
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